A draft food security law recently submitted to China's top legislature for deliberation clearly stipulates that China implements a national food security strategy based on self-reliance, domestically based companies, moderate imports and technological support.

Keeping the rice bowl firmly in Chinese people's hands has always been a top priority for China, a country of 1.4 billion people. China's food security guarantee has continuously improved over the past decade, as it feeds nearly one-fifth of the world's population with just 9 percent of the world's arable land and 6 percent of the world's fresh water resources.

China has ensured sufficient harvests and market supply of grain harvests for years. However, there are still potential threats to its food security because of insufficient legal protection. On the one hand, the problem of "non-agricultural" and "non-grain producing" tags in some cultivated land cannot be ignored. Epidemics and extreme weather conditions have also brought uncertainties. On the other hand, there are a series of outstanding challenges for China's food security, such as growing rigid demand, relatively little arable land, and increased difficulties to boost grain production. All these highlight the need to further improve the law to ensure food security.

Food security involves the production, processing, storage, transportation, purchase and sales, and economical use of crops. The lack of sufficient legal protection will bring numerous difficulties to the country's food security. Only through systematic legislation can the country make institutional arrangements for food security.

Many problems related to the protection of cultivated land, the balance of farmers' interests, and the unclear rights and responsibilities of functional departments in the supervision of the country's current food security have not been sorted out.

Many useful experiences in ensuring food security in recent years need to be solidified in law. Therefore, the recent draft food security law is a key step toward this.

In the face of challenges to its food security, it is imperative for China to strengthen the cornerstone of its food security. The draft food security law proposes a package of solutions and system designs for various problems hindering the country's inadequate food security. Once a food security law comes into effect, it will firmly consolidate the rule of law as the cornerstone of China's food security, and the vision of the Chinese people to have more stable rice bowls and eat better will be realized.

- BEIJING YOUTH DAILY